|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Introduction: Chaim Potok's I Am the Clay
| Article
# : |
19953 |
|
|
Section : |
BOOK WORLD
|
| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1992 |
272 Words |
| Author
: |
Editor
|
Chaim Potok's new novel is a surprising departure from his previous work. I Am the Clay is set in Korea, the story of an aged couple struggling to survive the war that has ripped their land apart. Fleeing the Chinese, the childless old woman is drawn to save a young boy they discover unconscious, lying in a ditch. Her keeping and caring for the wounded boy decreases their own tenuous chance for survival, and the woman's obstinacy enrages her husband. The old man's churning resentment becomes a more complicated emotion as the three make their way and he senses that the boy is imbued with a strange power. Reflections on life and death, and relationships among family in peace and crisis, are the meat of this moving novel. The first chapter is featured here, followed by commentary.
In a revealing interview, Potok explains why he wrote I Am the Clay. Haunted by impressions of a people and culture he encountered as a chaplain in the Korean War, he wove his first novel, just now published. Moved by the valiant Korean women he saw struggle to preserve their families and land, he describes I Am the Clay as a paean to womankind.
Academics Martin Holman and S. Lillian Kremer examine ideas conveyed in I Am the Clay and place the novel in the context of Potok's other books. Holman shows how the Koreans view their own history and discusses Korean values and literature. Kremer demonstrates the depth and scope of Chaim Potok's thought. Potok's dramas of the tensions and enlightenment that occur when cultures mesh broaden the reader's world.
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
